The 1989 civil unrest in Moldavia began on November 7, 1989, in Chișinău (then known as "Kishinev"),
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
and continued on November 10, when protesters burned down the headquarters of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
(led by
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Voronin (; born 25 May 1941) is a Soviet and Moldovan politician. He was the third president of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) since 1994. H ...
). Festivals on 7 November 1989 commemorating the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
and 10 November celebrating the Soviet police force offered excellent opportunities for oppositionists to challenge authorities in highly visible settings and disrupt events of premiere importance to the Soviet regime. During the former event, protesters interrupted a
military parade
A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the la ...
involving troops of the Chișinău Garrison on Victory Square (now
Great National Assembly Square
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
), which forced the military to cancel the mobile column planned that day.
Popular Front of Moldova
The Popular Front of Moldova ( ro, Frontul Popular din Moldova) was a political movement in the Moldavian SSR, one of the 15 union republics of the former Soviet Union, and in the newly independent Republic of Moldova. Formally, the Front existe ...
activists, often going beyond the official sanction of the movement leadership, organized actions that embarrassed the republican leadership, ultimately resulted in riots in central Chișinău. This unrest sealed the fate of the increasingly weak First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Moldavia
The Communist Party of Moldavia ( ro, Partidul Comunist al Moldovei, PCM; Moldovan Cyrillic: Партидул Комунист ал Молдовей; russian: Коммунистическая партия Молдавии) was the ruling and the ...
. At the Politburo meeting of the CPM Central Committee of 9 November, the first secretary of the party, Simon Grossu urged militia to proceed to prosecute and arrest those responsible for the events of November 7. Moreover, he proposed that those arrested to be deported outside Moldavia. On November 10, protesters burned down the headquarters of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
. On November 10, the minister of Internal Affairs
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Voronin (; born 25 May 1941) is a Soviet and Moldovan politician. He was the third president of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) since 1994. H ...
was hiding in the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, while defending the
Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
was entrusted to General Zhukov.
At the end of a year that had seen
Semion Grossu
Semion Grossu (born 18 March 1934, Satul Nou) is a Moldovan politician and businessman.
Biography
Grossu was born on 18 March 1934 in the commune of Satu-Nou, Cetatea Albă County, Kingdom of Romania (nowadays Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion, Ukra ...
and his organization pummeled from both the national revivalist right and the "ultrarevolutionary" internationalist left,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
replaced the First Secretary with
Petru Lucinschi
Petru Lucinschi (; born 27 January 1940) is a former Moldovan politician who was Moldova's second President (1997–2001).
Biography
Early life and education
Petru Lucinschi was born on 27 January 1940 in Rădulenii Vechi village, Soroc ...
in a snap Central Committee plenum on November 16, 1989.
Publika TV
Publika TV is a Moldovan broadcast news television station. It was launched on 7 April 2010, their founders being the Romanian businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu and the Moldovan businessman Vladimir Plahotniuc.File din istorie: 1989 - anul anti-7noiembrie la Chișinău /ref>
References
External links
*
Igor Cașu
Igor Cașu (born October 8, 1973 in Borogani) is a historian from the Republic of Moldova.
Biography
Igor Cașu was born on October 8, 1973 in Borogani, district Comrat, now in Leova. He studied history for 3 years at State University of Mo ...
,
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...